---
title: "15 Ifs Quotes By Audre Lorde"
description: "15 Ifs quotes by Audre Lorde. Plus more from Audre Lorde and more Ifs sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/audre-lorde-758_can-t-change_if-you-can-t-change-reality-change-your_303060.jpg"
---

> [If you can't change reality, change your perceptions of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-you-can-t-change-reality-change-your-perceptions-of-it/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c96/audre-lorde-758_can-t-change_if-you-can-t-change-reality-change-your_303060.jpg)

> [If I cannot air this pain and alter it, I will surely die of it. That's the beginning of social protest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-i-cannot-air-this-pain-and-alter-it-i-will-surely-die-of-it-that-s/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/df8/audre-lorde-758_air_if-i-cannot-air-this-pain-and-alter-it-i_3132396.jpg)

> [You'd better name yourself, because, if you don't others will do it for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/you-d-better-name-yourself-because-if-you-don-t-others-will-do-it-for/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cd6/audre-lorde-758_better_you-d-better-name-yourself-because-if-yo_182684.jpg)

> [Somedays, if bitterness were a whetstone, I could be sharp as grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/somedays-if-bitterness-were-a-whetstone-i-could-be-sharp-as-grief/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6f8/audre-lorde-758_anger_somedays-if-bitterness-were-a-whetstone_2045736.jpg)

> [If you don’t define yourself for yourself then you will be crushed into other's fantasies of you and eaten alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-you-don-t-define-yourself-for-yourself-then-you-will-be-crushed/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e4/audre-lorde-758_alive_if-you-don-t-define-yourself-for-yoursel_2993575.jpg)

> [If our history has taught us anything, it is that action for change directed against the external conditions of our oppressions is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-our-history-has-taught-us-anything-it-is-that-action-for-change/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ea/audre-lorde-758_action_if-our-history-has-taught-us-anything-it_2796845.jpg)

> [Raising Black children-female and male-in the mouth of a racist, sexist, suicidal dragon is perilous and chancy. If they cannot love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/raising-black-children-female-and-male-in-the-mouth-of-a-racist/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/39d/audre-lorde-758_black_raising-black-children-female-and-male-i_131782.jpg)

> [It is axiomatic that if we do not define ourselves for ourselves, we will be defined by others-for their use and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/it-is-axiomatic-that-if-we-do-not-define-ourselves-for-ourselves-we/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/477/audre-lorde-758_defined_it-is-axiomatic-that-if-we-do-not-define_3041553.jpg)

> [It is not the destiny of Black America to repeat white America's mistakes. But we will, if we mistake the trappings of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/it-is-not-the-destiny-of-black-america-to-repeat-white-america-s/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3bf/audre-lorde-758_america_it-is-not-the-destiny-of-black-america-t_2342428.jpg)

> [I was going to die, if not sooner, then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-was-going-to-die-if-not-sooner-then-later-whether-or-not-i-had-ever/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/034/audre-lorde-758_dies_i-was-going-to-die-if-not-sooner-then-la_1735238.jpg)

> [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/54a/audre-lorde-758_absolutes_institutionalized-rejection-of-differenc_91419.jpg)

> [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbd/audre-lorde-758_augusta_i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker_61306.jpg)

> [Raising Black children — female and male — in the mouth of a racist, sexist, suicidal dragon is perilous and chancy. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/raising-black-children-female-and-male-in-the-mouth-of-a-racist-2/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b8/audre-lorde-758_children_raising-black-children-female-and-male-i_2658439.jpg)

> [If white American feminist theory need not deal with the differences between us, and the resulting difference in our oppressions, then how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/if-white-american-feminist-theory-need-not-deal-with-the-differences/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/654/audre-lorde-758_behinds_if-white-american-feminist-theory-need-n_2334393.jpg)

> [Whenever a conscious Black woman raises her voice on issues central to her existence, somebody is going to call her strident, because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/whenever-a-conscious-black-woman-raises-her-voice-on-issues-central/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e50/audre-lorde-758_black_whenever-a-conscious-black-woman-raises_3070078.jpg)

## Other authors on Ifs

## More by Audre Lorde

> [Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from me-so different…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/every-woman-i-have-ever-loved-has-left-her-print-upon-me-where-i/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [There are many kinds of open. . . Love is a word, another kind of open. . . Take my word for jewel in your open light.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-are-many-kinds-of-open-love-is-a-word-another-kind-of-open-take/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [Your silence will not protect you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/your-silence-will-not-protect-you/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [I can't really define it in sexual terms alone although our sexuality is so energizing why not enjoy it too?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-can-t-really-define-it-in-sexual-terms-alone-although-our-sexuality/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [“For once we begin to feel deeply all the aspects of our lives, we begin to demand from ourselves and from our life-pursuits that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/for-once-we-begin-to-feel-deeply-all-the-aspects-of-our-lives-we/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [the fear of death is that you are dying too soon. Nobody wants to, but at the point that you die you can pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-fear-of-death-is-that-you-are-dying-too-soon-nobody-wants-to-but/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [“There is an important difference between openness and naïveté. Not everyone has good intentions nor means me well. I remind myself I do not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/there-is-an-important-difference-between-openness-and-na-vet-not/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/what-are-the-words-you-do-not-yet-have-what-do-you-need-to-say-what/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [I learned to read from Mrs. Augusta Baker, the children's librarian. ... If that was the only good deed that lady ever did in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-learned-to-read-from-mrs-augusta-baker-the-children-s-librarian-if/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [Poetry is not only dream and vision; it is the skeleton architecture of our lives. It lays the foundations for a future of change,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/poetry-is-not-only-dream-and-vision-it-is-the-skeleton-architecture/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [“I think that in America there are certain kinds of problems and in Russia there are certain kinds of problems, but basically, when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-think-that-in-america-there-are-certain-kinds-of-problems-and-in/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/institutionalized-rejection-of-differences-is-an-absolute-necessity/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/the-sharing-of-joy-whether-physical-emotional-psychic-or-intellectual/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [“I forgot what we were celebrating. Because we were always celebrating something, a new job, a new poem, a new love, a new dream.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/i-forgot-what-we-were-celebrating-because-we-were-always-celebrating/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

> [How a diamond comes into a knot of flame How a sound comes into a word, coloured By who pays what for speaking. Some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/audre-lorde/how-a-diamond-comes-into-a-knot-of-flame-how-a-sound-comes-into-a/)

[Audre Lorde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/audre-lorde/)

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                        "text": "It is not the destiny of Black America to repeat white America's mistakes. But we will, if we mistake the trappings of success in a sick society for the signs of a meaningful life.",
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                        "text": "Institutionalized rejection of differences is an absolute necessity in a profit economy which needs outsiders as surplus people. As members of such an economy, we have all been programmed to respond to the human differences between us with fear and loathing and to handle that difference in one of three ways: ignore it, and if that is not possible, copy it if we think it is dominant, or destroy it if we think it is subordinate.",
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                        "text": "Raising Black children — female and male — in the mouth of a racist, sexist, suicidal dragon is perilous and chancy. If they cannot love and resist at the same time, they will probably not survive. And in order to survive they must let go. This is what mothers teach — love, survival — that is, self-definition and letting go.",
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                        "text": "If white American feminist theory need not deal with the differences between us, and the resulting difference in our oppressions, then how do you deal with the fact that the women who clean your houses and tend your children while you attend conferences on feminist theory are, for the most part, poor women and women of Color? What is the theory behind racist feminism?",
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                        "text": "Whenever a conscious Black woman raises her voice on issues central to her existence, somebody is going to call her strident, because they don't want to hear about it, nor us. I refuse to be silenced and I refuse to be trivialized, even if I do not say what I have to say perfectly.",
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